Cross-Country Skiing at Fahnestock

When I mentioned to friends I was planning to go cross-country skiing, everyone shook their heads in disbelief, wondering why I would want to do something so boring yet utterly exhausting. So I viewed this adventure as an intense work-out that could perhaps merit a week off from the gym, but wasn't sure whether it would actually be enjoyable. Turns out, cross-country skiing is indeed tough work, but also a surprisingly fun & relaxing way to spend a winter afternoon.

We headed up north to Fahnestock Winter Park, about an hour and twenty minutes north of the city, near Cold Spring. Boots, skis & shoeshoes are available for rental at the park, but they can run out of boots in certain sizes so I advise getting there before noon, especially on a holiday weekend.

Small hill in woods - harder than it looks

There are 9 miles of trails at the park, graded by level of difficulty from "easy" to "black diamond." Easy is really quite easy even for a beginner skier; black diamond is hard for even the advanced. While the black diamond hills were barely even hills, the skis are incredibly long and the snow is icy in parts which makes even a small hill challenging. Fun for me, but maybe not so much for a beginner skier. The scenery was nice - we circled through a wooded trail and then skied across a large frozen lake.

To complete my Fahenstock experience, I couldn't resist falling flat into a foot deep of snow and making a 6 foot snow angel. Try it sometime - it's just as fun as when you were 8 years old.

Two hours is more than enough time to feel like you've seen some nature, gotten a workout and have earned some pints of beer & pub food... so we headed to Nyack, NY for dinner on the way back. Nyack is a cute little town in the summer with not so much going on in the winter, unless you find yourself eating chicken pot pie and drinking 2-for-1 draft beers at the Monday night hot-spot O'Malley's. 

While we rented a car for this day trip, but there is also a train from Grand Central to Cold Spring. At Cold Spring, you can call a taxi to take you to the park. 

Blue Grass Brunch and Museum Madness

It's easy to fall into the brunch and shopping routine on weekends in NYC. Not that this is a bad thing, but sometimes it's nice to check out some of the city's cultural attractions (isn't that why we say we live in New York?) Spending Thanksgiving in the city gave me a few extra days to take advantage of some things I don't always have time for.

If you want to shake things up in your brunch routine, there is a slight variation which you can pretend is cultural at Nolita House. You still get mimosas and eggs Benedict, but the addition of a bluegrass band makes it feel like you've had an experience versus just paid $25 for a meal that costs $2 to make. (Not that I don't love brunch in NYC, but you know how sometimes you can pay a lot for some eggs and a mimosa consisting of Tang and a splash of champagne?) I loved the bluegrass band - these guys were awesome and made me feel like I was back down South in college (yet did I ever wake up early enough for a semblance of something called brunch back then?)

After brunch, we hit up the MoMA (if you think "hit up the MoMA" is an appropriate expression when talking about viewing art) and saw a painting called "people staring at nothing," aka a solid black painted canvas.

MoMA has not only an incredible permanent collection, but always has intriguing rotating exhibits. If you've ever dreamed of screaming in a museum, now's your chance, with the participatory exhibit "Voice Piece for Soprano" created by Yoko Ono. A museum-goer participates here but Yoko's performance is even more entertaining (and totally awkward.) 

The other stop on the Thanksgiving museum tour was the Brooklyn Museum (@ Prospect Park.) There are a lot of interesting pieces here, though the museum flow/ feng shui felt a bit off... it's rather hard to navigate. I'm not a huge Norman Rockwell fan ordinarily, but was fascinated by this exhibit featuring his work and the photographs he used to stage his paintings (exhibit through April 10th.) It made me think about his work in a whole new light.

Also enjoyed this exhibit from Fred Tomaselli - it's hard to see, but much of his work consists of thousands of tiny pills, everything from Benadryl to hallucinogenics. 

Hope this provided a bit of inspiration, and would love to hear about any NYC escapes you've planned for the winter months!